Quote:
Originally posted by DELTABRAT:
hello...
I think the first few words of your responsevgives much indication as to why you responded in that fashion...because you are anything but black so you don' t understand. Getting to know people on GP is one thing BUT constantly explaining why I do or do not do/approve, etc., in a certain way is another. I do understand what my Soror was saying. 
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I can relate to hello's post. I've had to grown up in an america where there is a strong white and strong black community. I fit into neither community. It has been hard all my life because I've had to explain to EVERYONE and usually don't have any people to fall back on who do understand where I am coming from.
I've never been blind enough to discredit the BS one must put up with growing up an african-american in this country (I've met the Klan face to face -- believe me, I know), but, no one can deny the fact that there is a strong african-amercian identity to align ones self with here. The african-american culture in America has become so beautiful. It is now a mix of everything -- traditional african influences, the urban culture influence, things that were forced upon slaves and adopted into mainstream culture, things that developed uniquely in America only, and so much more.
However, as an Asian-American, many of our youth strongly align themselves with either black or white america because there just isn't a strong asian-american culture present. As a result, things that are uniquely Japanese or Filipina or Chinese or Korean are just swallowed up and we grow up trying to believe we are white because of our pale skin or we grow up close to black america because of our minority status. I have suffered from this.
I have met so many asian-american women in college and they do things and say things and feel things just like me. It is the first time in my life I've EVER felt like I truly belong anywhere. It is the first time that things that my family does have become a normality rather than something I have to explain to EVERYONE I meet.
Regardless, I appreciate my experience because I wasn't sheltered and I was forced to deal with my unique culture and other people's reaction to it and I now know that I can get along with any race. If I met a black man or a white man or a spanish man or a korean man who I just vibed with, I wouldn't let our cultural differences stand in the way of that. I've always felt my life enriched by dating men outside of my race and outside of my ethnicity (not all Asians are alike - we are actually quite different from one another) -- both by learning about them and teaching them about me.